Square, a digital payments startup, has changed its name to Block, indicating a possible tilt toward blockchain technology.
Square announced the rebranding on Wednesday, saying it will bring the payments company together with Cash App, tbDEX, a decentralized Bitcoin (BTC) exchange project, and Tidal, a music and video streaming site.
Square Crypto, the payment firm’s cryptocurrency-focused department, will also change its name to Spiral and join the Block family, according to an accompanying news release.
“Block” refers to the neighborhood blocks where Square finds its merchants, as well as a blockchain, block parties with live music, challenges to overcome, a chunk of code, building blocks, and, of course, tungsten cubes,” Square said.
According to the company, it has been working on this for over a year, and it only represents a change in its legal corporate name. “It has no bearing on our goal, vision, structure, or activities,” Square said.
The renaming comes just two days after Square — now Block — chief executive Jack Dorsey resigned from Twitter, claiming the need to give his replacement, chief technology officer and board member Parag Agrawal, the freedom to work without his influence.
Deeper into crypto
Many suspected at the time that Dorsey would use Square’s operations to go deeper into crypto and blockchain, similar to how Facebook shifted its focus away from social media with the renaming to Meta.
“Block is a new name, but our mission of economic empowerment hasn’t changed,” Dorsey said of the rebranding. “We will continue to design tools to help broaden access to the economy no matter how we grow or change.”
Square pointed out that the formal name change will take effect “by or on” December 10. Block, Cash App, Tidal, Spiral, and tbDEX will not undergo any organizational changes, according to the corporation.
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